THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
18 Friday, July 1, 1983
Election, Supreme Court Ruling May Alter
U.S. Congressional Support for Israel
By MORRIS J.
AMITAY
WASHINGTON — Two
recent developments in Il-
linois and a landmark Sup-
reme Court decision might
make an appreciable dif-
ference in future Congres-
sional support for Israel.
Tom Corcoran, three-
term Republican Represen-
tative, announced that he
AL KLINE
"See me for a
heimishe deal"
(Wyk/sit
GADILLAC PEUGEOT
6161 Woodward
Detroit, MI 48202
Just south of the
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875-0300
will challenge incumbent
Sen. Charles Percy in the
Republican primary next
March. Percy, who is
chairman of the Foreign Re-
lations Committee has been
unhelpful — to say the least
— on Israel-related issues
in recent years. Corcoran,
who spearheaded opposition
to the sale of sophisticated
arms to Jordan, is expected
to run strongly among disaf-
fected Republicans, thus
presenting Percy with a
credible and articulate pri-
mary opponent:
On the Democratic side,
signs indicate that • the
highly respected Rep. Paul
Simon will seek his party's,
nomination to run againg
Percy. Political analysts
feel he would be the
strongest challenger. In ef-
fect then, Percy will be fac-
ing his most serious chal-
lenge since his election in
1966.
* * *
In its decision to strike
down legislative vetoes of
Executive actions, the
Supreme Court has taken
away the Congressional
veto on arms sales to
foreign countries. This
means that the Saudi F-15
and AWACS battles, for
instance, could not be
waged by Congress in the
future.
SEN. CHARLES PERCY
Initial reaction is to pass
new legislation requiring
positive Congressional ac-
tion under defined circum-
stances. In the interim, the
Resolution of Disapproval
route is no longer available
to modify or stop the sale of
sophisticated arms sales to
Israel's foes.
* * *
There is great merit to the
argument that the current
energy "glut" is a tempor-
ary phenomenon which
should be taken advantage
of to ensure greater U.S.
energy independence in the
future. Such a window of
opportunity exists this
summer as Congress takes
up a number of proposals
regarding the deregulation
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR
HAMILTON PLACE MEMBERS!
FOR 1
YEAR
of natural gas. This is an ex-
tremely complex subject in-
volving a patchwork of gov-
ernment regulations, gas
producers, pipeline owners,
public utilities — and con-
sumers.
The bottom line here is
that unless Congress takes
final and definitive action
in the next few months, it
might be forced to take pre-
cipitous action later when
serious shortages occur.
In pushing Administra-
tion proposals calling for
renegotiation of con-
tracts between pro-
ducers and distributors,
there will be winners and
losers — but ultimately it
looks as though the con-
sumers will actually be
better off. This is sup-
ported by a recent Gen-
eral Accounting Office
study which pointed out
that no less than 75 per-
cent of all natural gas use
is commercial — not resi-
dential. Under the pre-
sent situation, cheap gas
is kept underground and
instead more expensive
deep gas sold to pipelines
and consumers. In fact,
we even import liquified
natural gas from Algeria
— certainly an unreliable
source.
It was, therefore, gratify-
ing to see that the American
Jewish Committee has
endorsed the Administra-
tion's position. In its state-
ment it pointed out, "Both
national energy security
and consumer interests are
served by reforming the
regulation of the gas indus-
try along the lines recom-
mended by the Administra-
tion."
The connection between
U.S. foreign policy in the
Middle East and greater
energy independence will
remain. It behooves the or-
ganized American Jewish
community to recognize this
inextricable link and sup-
port measures to protect us
against blackmail in the fu-
ture.
Job for Sharon?
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JERUSALEM (ZINS) —
Hatzofe, the newspaper of
the National Religious
Party, has criticized sugges-
tions that former Israeli De-
fense Minister Ariel Sharon
be appointed Minister for
Diaspora Affairs.
The paper said such a
ministry is "superfluous. It
is not the Israeli govern-
ment's job to deal directly
with the problem of Dias-
pora Jewry.
"Sharon could contribute
much in other areas of gov-
ernment, should Prime
Minister Begin decide to as-
sign him the responsibil-
ity," the paper said.
Choose Hebrew
JERUSALEM (JNI) —
Nearly 85 percent of the
4,127 books published in Is-
rael during 1982 were
printed in Hebrew, accord-
ing to Minister of Education
and Culture Zevulun
Hammer.
.
Boris Smolar's
`Between You
... and Me'
Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1983, JTA, inc.)
THE GRADUATION SEASON: The academic
semester has drawn to a close with a large number of
Jewish students graduating from colleges and universities.
Will American institutions of higher learning include in
their programs for the next academic year as many courses
of Jewish studies as they did during the last years? Will
there be as many Jewish students in the universities as in
the last years?
These questions are now being posed by Jewish com-
munity leaders interested in Jewish continuity and in
strengthening Jewish knowledge among students on the
campuses. It is feared that, as a result of the cutting of
federal funds for education, many colleges and universities
will reduce the number of their Jewish studies. It is also
feared that, because of economic conditions, many Jewish
students will be forced into a new way of life in their
education. Finding it difficult to meet the cost of keeping
children in more prestigious out-of-town universities,
many parents insist now on their enrolling in hometown
schools of learning where much savings could be effected by
living with the family and thus eliminate dormitory ex-
penses, food expenses and other expenses.
There is no exact data on the number of Jewish stu-
dents in American establishments of higher education, Nor
is there sufficient data on the number of Jewish studies in
the American colleges and universities. It is estimated that
there are today about 400,000 Jewish youths in the Ameri-
can schools of higher education, but this is only an esti-
mate. Similarly, the Hillel Foundations and Association for
Jewish Studies which are — each in its own way — con-
cerned with the task of Jewish enrichment on the univer-
sity campus, in 1979 issued jointly an academic catalogue
of Jewish studies courses but the data is incomplete.
The information was collected primarily from the staff
of the Hillel Foundations at over 300 American and Cana-
dian campuses and the faculty members of the Association
for Jewish Studies. However, the number of colleges and
universities in the United States and Canada is at least five
times as high as the 300 surveyed.
FACTS AND FIGURES: Jewish studies have become
recognized as a legitimate field of academic endeavor in the
past two decades. Strong impetus in this development was
given by two factors: The establishment of the state of
Israel and the insistent demand by black Americans that
they be taught their "roots" in the American schools of
higher learning. Many Jewish students — totally ignorant
of the rich Jewish cultural heritage — have begun to show
receptivity to Jewish history and Jewish knowledge.
The American Jewish community, concerned with
survival, is coming increasingly to realize that Jewish
identity depends on a broadly:based level of Jewish knowl-
edge which has to be integrated with academic atmosphere
and standards of the university. Jewish communities and
individuals began to donate funds for chairs and programs.
The Association of Jewish Studies was then established —
at the initiative of the American Jewish Committee — to
promote, maintain and improve the teaching of Jewish
studies in American colleges and universities by setting
programs for such studies, coordinating research, publish-
ing scholarly materials and cooperating with other schol-
arly organizations.
The moods among young Jews with regard to their
Jewishness have at the same time changed. No longer did
young Jews feel any embarrassment about their prog-
enitors as most of them felt 30 or 40 years ago. Many of
them became eager to find out about the Jewish values and
Jewish cultural and moral contributions made since an-
cient times.
MULTITUDE OF COURSES: Today, one finds at
Columbia University more than 70 courses in Jewish
knowledge. In the City University of New York System one
finds a multitude of courses on Hebrew and Yiddish lan-
guage and literature, on Jewish-American literature, on
medieval Jewish culture, on the Holocaust, on biblical and
modern Israel, on the sociology of American Jewish com-
munity, on Hasidism, Jewish Art, Yiddish Theater and on
any subject related to Jews and Jewish history.
The University of California system, led by the UCLA
in Los Angeles, lists in the catalogues of its campus about
90 courses in Jewish knowledge. The University of Denver
has 35 courses; the University of Miami lists more than 25
courses; Indiana University distinguishes itself with an
impressive variety of about 60 Jewish studies on various
subjects; Ohio State University has 70 courses; the Univer-
sity of Minnesota conducts more than 50 courses. The Uni-
versity of Michigan in Ann Arbor lists more than 50 courses
and Wayne State University in Detroit has a substantial
number of Jewish studies classes.